Tetanus is a severe, sudden, often fatal disease, caused by bacteria penetrating the skin – often through cuts and scratches.
If you have wounds following an injury, keep them clean. If any muscle pain/stiffness, spasms, or infection of the wound occurs, speak to a health professional.
The best way to prevent tetanus is to ensure that your immunisations are up to date.
Tetanus tends to occur in people following an injury.
It is caused by Clostridium tetani bacteria (commonly found in soil) that penetrates the skin. Some examples of how this may happen include:
Tetanus does not spread from person to person.
Symptoms of tetanus generally appear 3 days to 3 weeks after injury, but can vary within a range of 1 day to several months.
Symptoms can include:
Tetanus can sometimes be called lockjaw as there can be a symptom where your jaw muscles tighten, and you cannot open your mouth.
Tetanus is a very serious disease.
It can cause breathing problems and paralysis (where you are unable to move parts of the body). The muscle spasms it causes can be strong enough to break a child’s spine or other bones.
It can take many months to recover fully from tetanus.
A child might need weeks of hospital care, and as many as 1 out of 5 people who get tetanus die. About 20 per cent of people who get tetanus in Australia will die as a result.
It is important to ensure that your vaccinations are up to date.
Tetanus-toxoid vaccines are recommended for children at 2, 4, 6 and 18 months, and 4 years of age, and adolescents at 11–13 years of age.
A tetanus-toxoid vaccine booster is recommended for all adults at 50 years of age and at 65 years of age if it is more than 10 years since the last dose.
Vaccination is recommended every 10 years for travellers to countries where health services are difficult to access. Travellers with a higher risk of a tetanus-prone wound are recommended to be vaccinated every 5 years.
Keep a record of your vaccination history to remind you of booster doses.
